‘Catherine The Great’ Leads The Blacklist 2014: Full List — Update

UPDATED WITH FULL LIST OF SCRIPTS, WRITERS, AND REPS:Catherine The Great, about the rise and life of the famous (sometimes notorious) 18th-Century Russian monarch, was the top vote-getter among 70 scripts chosen for the 2014 Black List of the year’s best un-produced scripts. The screenplay, by Los Angeles writer and producer Kristina Lauren Anderson, was announced as part of an hour-plus process on Twitter and YouTube this morning.

Each of the 70 screenplays on this 10th annual list was chosen by a group of 250 development executives, agents and other Hollywood insiders as among the year’s best un-produced scripts in a process overseen by Franklin Leonard of http://www.blcklst.com. Anderson’s screenplay received 51 votes.

Other notables in the list include writer/actor/director Kenneth Lonergan with Manchester-By-The-Sea, which is being produced by Matt Damon and Chris Moore. Randall Green had two scripts make the list, The Swimsuit Issue and Cartoon Girl.

Let us know what your own picks are for projects worthy of more attention (and no pimping your own screenplay in comments). Here’s the full list of Black List 2014 screenplays, screenwriters, reps, and production companies ranked in order of voting, followed by Deadline’s archived announcement live-blog.

24
AETHER
Krysty Wilson-Cairns
In near future London, a revolutionary technology has been invented that can record sounds hours after they were made. Detective Harry Orwell, inventor of this technology, is part of a pilot program where investigators record and analyze past sound waves and finds himself the prime suspect while investigating a string of brutal murders.
Agency: CAA/United Agents
Agents: Jon Cassir, Matt Martin, Marnie Podos
Financier: FilmNation
Producer: FilmNation

24
SITUATION COMEDY
Cat Vasko
A young woman, feeling directionless, stumbles upon a mysterious courtyard where she is transported into a sitcom-like universe, becoming a major character on this “TV show.”
Agency: WME
Agents: Simon Faber, Solco Schuit
Management: Grandview
Manager: Matt Rosen, Zac Frognowski, Chris Goble
Producer: Right of Way, Helen Estabrook

18
MENA
Gary Spinelli
In the late 1970s to mid 1980s, Barry Seal, a TWA pilot recruited by the CIA to provide reconnaissance on the burgeoning communist threat in Central America finds himself in charge of one of the biggest covert CIA operations in the history of the United States, one that spawned the birth of the Medellin cartel and eventually almost brought down the Reagan White House with the Iran Contra scandal.
Agency: The Gersh Agency
Agents: Greg Pedicin, Frank Wuliger, Sean Barclay
Financier: Universal
Producer: Imagine, Doug Davison

17
NORTH OF RENO
Banipal Ablakhad, Benhur Ablakhad
A down and out prison guard attempts to murder a recently released inmate and steal a half million dollars in hidden heist money.
Management: Shuman Company
Manager: Robert Lazar
Financier: New Line Cinema
Producer: Flynn Picture Co.

17
ON THE BASIS OF SEX
Daniel Stiepleman
The story of Ruth Bader Ginsberg, as she faced numerous obstacles to her fight for equal rights throughout her career.
Agency: The Gersh Agency
Agents: Sandra Lucchesi, Frank Wuliger
Management: Anonymous Content
Manager: Rosalie Swedlin, Joy Gorman

15
THE DEFECTION
Ken Nolan
After the Edward Snowden affair, an intelligence contractor defects to North Korea, taking a mysterious bag with him, and the CIA hires an expert trained during the Cold War to help with the case.
Agency: CAA
Agents: Jay Baker, Todd Feldman, John Garvey
Management: Kaplan/Perrone Entertainment
Manager: Tobin Babst
Financier: 20th Century Fox
Producer: Hutch Parker Entertainment

13
IN THE DEEP
Anthony Jaswinski
A lone surfer attacked by a shark and stranded on a reef must find a way back to shore before succumbing to her injuries.
Agency: Paradigm
Agents: David Boxerbaum, Valarie Phillips
Management: Circle of Confusion
Manager: Ashley Berns, Lawrence Mattis
Financier: Sony
Producer: Weimaraner Republic Pictures

13
YELLOWSTONE FALLS
Daniel Kunka
After an apocalyptic event, a mother wolf is separated from her mate and the rest of the pack, and has to protect her cubs from swarms of mutated humans.
Agency: ICM Partners
Agent: Harley Copen, Kathleen Remington
Management: Madhouse Entertainment
Manager: Adam Kolbrenner
Financier: QED
Producer: Misher Films

12
SYNDROME (E)
Mark Heyman
A detective solving the case of a disturbing film with subliminal images that is killing people who come in contact with it discovers a greater evil.
Agency: CAA
Agents: John Cassir, John Garvey, Rob Kenneally
Management: Grandview
Manager: Matt Rosen
Financier: Paramount Pictures
Producer: Film Rites, Indian Paintbrush

11
CARTOON GIRL
Randall Green
When a young boy finds out that the cartoon character he’s in love with is based on a real girl, he drags his single father on a road trip to track her down.
Agency: UTA
Agents: Amanda Hymson, Blair Kohan
Management: Apostle Pictures
Manager: George Heller

10
THE SECRET INGREDIENTS OF ROCKEY COLA
Mike Vukadinovich
Twin brothers with opposite personalities are separated at a young age and go on to live drastically different lives, eventually being reunited in the effort to save the company ‘Rocket Cola’ despite their love of the same woman.
Agency: Verve
Agent: Bryan Besser
Management: Industry Entertainment
Manager: Ava Jamshidi
Producer: Escape Artists

10
THE SHOWER
Jac Schaeffer
At a baby shower for their longtime friend, the attendees suddenly find themselves in the middle of a different type of shower: meteors that release a vapor turning men into blood-hungry aliens.
Agency: Verve
Agents: Melissa Solomon, Bill Weinstein
Management: Circle of Confusion
Manager: Britton Rizzio

9
CELERITAS
Kimberly Barrante
When a missing astronaut crash lands forty years after he launched having not aged a day, his elderly twin brother helps him escape the NASA scientists hunting him. As the government closes in, neither brother is who they claim to be.
Agency: Verve
Agents: Parker Davis, Adam Weinstein
Management: Madhouse Entertainment
Manager: Adam Kolbrenner, Kendrick Tan

9
JACKPOT
Dave Callaham
After a group of bumbling teachers win a large amount of money, their greed and incompetence put them on a hilarious path toward death and destruction.
Agency: UTA
Agents: Jason Burns, Emerson Davis
Management: Kaplan/Perrone Entertainment
Manager: Tobin Babst
Financier: Focus Features
Producer: Olive Bridge

9
PLUS ONE
April Prosser
Just out of a long term relationship and realizing that all her friends have married, Rachel discovers that her only remaining wingwoman is Summer, a loud and oversharing wildcard.
Agency: UTA
Agents: Blair Kohan, Carolyn Sivitz
Management: Kaplan/Perrone Entertainment
Manager: Josh Goldenberg
Financier: The Weinstein Co.
Producer: Gloria Sanchez Productions

9
WONKA
Jason Micallef
A dark, reimagining of the Willy Wonka story beginning in World War II and culminating with his takeover of the chocolate factory.
Agency: WME
Agents: Rich Cook, Meyash Prabhu
Manager: Underground
Manager: Josh Turner Maguire

8
BISMARCK
Jared Cowie
As Britain struggles through the darkest hours of World War II, a naval officer, raw from the loss of his ship during the evacuation of Dunkirk, is thrust into the thick of the hunt for the Nazi superbattleship, Bismarck. Based on a true story.
Management: BenderSpink
Manager: Daniel Vang

7
BLINK
Hernany Perla
Years after being fully paralyzed during an infamous bank robbery, a man is taken hostage for the secrets in his head. His only form of communicating with the outside world – and outsmarting his captors – is his ability to blink.
Agency: Original Artists
Agents: Jordan Bayer, Matt Leipzig
Management: Madhouse Entertainment
Manager: Ryan Cunningham
Producer: Atlas Independent

7
BOSTON STRANGLER
Chuck MacLean
In the 1960s, a determined detective puts his life and career on the line to solve the case of the Boston Strangler.
Agency: CAA
Agents: Jon Cassir, John Campisi, Alexandra Trustman
Management: Oasis Media Group
Manager: Ben Rowe
Financier: Warner Bros.
Producer: Langley Park Pictures

7
EVERYONE WANTS EVERYTHING
Abraham Higginbotham
As his life reaches its neurosis-inducing midpoint, a married man asks himself an eternal question with no real answer — “Am I living the life I want to be living, or do I need to start over before its too late?” Torn between two lives, he’s forced to do the one thing he doesn’t want to do — make a choice.
Agency: UTA
Agents: Keya Khayatian, Carolyn Sivitz
Producer: Donna Gigliotti, Renee Witt

7
GIFTED
Tom Flynn
A thirty year old man attempts to continue raising his deceased sister’s seven year old daughter, a kid-genius, while battling his own mother for custody.
Agency: Original Artists
Agents: Matt Leipzig, Jordan Bayer
Management: Grade A Entertainment
Manager: Andy Cohen
Producer: FilmNation

7
PROFESSOR PASGHETTI
Jeff Feuerstein
A famous children’s author, with an affinity for drugs and hookers, finds himself on a journey of self-discovery with a dead stripper and her eight year old son.
Agency: UTA
Agents: Jon Huddle
Management: Hopscotch Pictures
Manager: Sukee Chew
Producer: Hopscotch Pictures, Matt Tolmach Productions

7
THE EDEN PROJECT
Christina Hodson
When a race of genetically modified humans living secretly among us declare war on Man, the fate of the world is in the hands of a rogue “Synthetic” named Eve and a young girl who is about to discover she’s not all human.
Agency: CAA
Agents: Jay Baker, Ida Ziniti
Management: Kaplan/Perrone Entertainment
Manager: Tobin Babst
Financier: Sony
Producer: Material Pictures

6
A GARDEN AT THE END OF THE WORLD
Gary Graham
In a post-apocalyptic world, a recluse, trying to recreate trees to produce new life, takes in a young girl who is on the run from some bad men, including her father.
Agency: CAA
Agents: Jon Cassir, Ida Ziniti
Management: Energy Entertainment
Manager: Brooklyn Weaver
Financier: Warner Bros.
Producer: Jonathan Krauss, Roy Lee, Brooklyn Weaver

6
IN REAL TIME
Chai Hecht
A young man convinced that his mentally unstable sister needs to relive her high school prom from ten years prior to overcome her depression goes to great lengths to recreate that event.
Agency: CAA
Agents: Jon Cassir, Matt Martin
Management: Madhouse Entertainment
Manager: Adam Kolbrenner
Producer: Pacific Standard Films

6
MY FRIEND DAHMER
Marc Meyers
Based on the acclaimed graphic novel by John Backderf, Jeffrey Dahmer struggles with a difficult family life as a young boy and during his teenage years he slowly transforms, edging closer to the serial killer he becomes.
Management: Aperture Entertainment
Manager: Adam Goldworm
Producer: Aperture Entertainment, Ibid Filmworks

6
THE BEAUTIFUL GAME
Zander Lehmann
A high school soccer star’s personal life becomes complicated leading up to his championship game as he develops a relationship with his soccer coach.
Agency: WME
Agents: Ryan Feldman, Jeff Gorin
Producer: Ad Hominem Enterprises, Bottega Media

6
THE MAN IN THE ROCKEFELLER SUIT
David Bar Katz
The story of Clark Rockefeller, a con artist thought to be American royalty until he kidnapped his young daughter initiating a manhunt that revealed his true identity.
Agency: CAA
Agents: Trevor Astbury, Craig Brody
Management: Untitled Entertainment
Manager: Jennifer Levine
Financier: Fox Searchlight
Producer: De Line Pictures

Mad Men’s Matt Weiner: “I thrilled to be part of the Black List and to encourage all the writers out there who are working in messy rooms like this and in coffee shops, to keep writing – the more you write, the better you get.”

Women In Film President, Mandalay Pics President, and CRASH producer Cathy Schulman first recommends you go see Wild, then recommends you see her February 4 movie The Voices starring Ryan Reynolds and Anna Kendrick, and finally announces “The Eden Project” by Christina Hodson. By sealed envelope!

“I’m the winner of the original Black List with Things We Lost In The Fire, which I am pleased to say has just crossed over one billion dollars domestically. It’s still in wide release.” Congrats, Allan Loeb

Yelling To The Sky writer/director Victoria Mahoney announces “Tau” by Noga Landau, “about a woman held captive in a futuristic smart house by a serial kidnapper who realizes her only hope for escape lies in turning the sentient computer against its creator” SIGN ME UP.

37 Comments

One every minute? The Blacklist is so insanely full of itself…can’t wait to read about more Aaron Sorkin scripts and classics in the vein of former Blacklist entries like “Prom” and “F Marry Kill.”

jtcNYC • on Dec 15, 2014 5:52 pm

ROTHCHILD sounds like one of Alec Guinness best films. KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS.

scott • on Dec 15, 2014 10:15 am

When Sorkin or Tarantino acknowledge their place on the Black List, a top script doesn’t bomb like DRAFT DAY, or if it only listed 10 scripts and not 70+… I MIGHT care.

Enjoy wasting an hour watching your twitter feeds newbie writers

Anonymous • on Dec 15, 2014 10:27 am

The Blacklist: A very well manufactured popularity contest among agents and managers.

alfonsosays@yahoo.com • on Jan 2, 2015 3:49 pm

Exactly. If they are “unproduced” why are there Production companies attached? There were many other great scripts not mentioned.

bounder • on Dec 15, 2014 11:08 am

They should have someone announce how many of these folks were promised spots on the Black List by agents looking to sign them last year!

John • on Dec 15, 2014 11:22 am

You guys missed so many great un-produced scripts. This has become such a political circle jerk… So silly! Congrats to all the writers who made the cut, nonetheless.

Name • on Dec 15, 2014 11:28 am

Read 40 pages of “Catherine the Great” and gave up. Writer has clearly done the research, but it’s not the most compelling story (more like social climbing) and the draft I read had typing errors (“War is eminent” says one character), weak description (the Winter Palace “puts Versailles to shame”), and no ear for how people might have talked in 18th century Russia.

Still, if this is the standard, gives hope for one’s own script.

sorry... • on Dec 15, 2014 2:34 pm

I agree. So boring, couldn’t get through it. I guess it was fine but seems more like the reps really just raised a groundswell. The dialogue is too contemporary, the rest of the script too dry. Curious to see what type of filmmaker they get as their is not much there.

John • on Dec 15, 2014 3:37 pm

It may be too sophisticated for some but the majority of people who read it felt it was a spectacular window into a very compelling woman. 99% of writers would fall short here, it would be too dense – Kristina brought this story to life. It felt fresh and relevant. I read tons of scripts, and this was one of the best this year. She is about to have a big career…excited to see what’s next!

wellios • on Dec 15, 2014 3:57 pm

Franklin Leonard and The Black List run Hollywood. You’re not talented unless Franklin says you are. Get used to it, and get with the program.

John • on Dec 15, 2014 3:58 pm

If you’d read it, you’d see the writer clearly HADN’T done much research — or if so, misunderstood a lot of what she was reading… LOL – it had the depth and accuracy of CW’s Reign.

Doh! • on Dec 15, 2014 11:50 am

I want to read that script about the “Medal-In” cartel. Sounds dope. Good job Black List peeps at announcing your own list!

AnotherWriter • on Dec 15, 2014 11:55 am

Who cares? The Black List has turned into a money-making machine capitalizing on insecure screenwriters. Insanely full of itself is an apt description. Hardly a day goes by when another bloviated gasbag Black List announcement is made requiring a writer to have to pay yet more money for one of their super, incredible, one-time-only services or seminars. They should change their name to The Blah, Blah, Blah List.

Frymann • on Dec 15, 2014 2:37 pm

It’s also a well-oiled press machine for self-promotion. Getting miles taking credit for the King’s Speech.

basurun • on Dec 16, 2014 10:03 am

Being angry to the world because your writing career is going nowhere, is not gonna change anything. You’ll still suck.

I love the presentation of this! Hurray screenwriters! Hurray all the people who are supporting writers. This is a great development in our industry!

heresthething • on Dec 15, 2014 2:21 pm

Am I right in counting only 8 of the 70 scripts were written by women. 8. That is ridiculous.

DSM • on Dec 15, 2014 3:24 pm

Actually, if you’d read a lot of these scripts, you might have said “Thank goodness”.

Billie Jean • on Dec 15, 2014 4:02 pm

quick – now go count the number of women in the NBA… Now count the white men, the Mexican men and the Asian men — all under-represented based purely on demographics… Looks like you got some more complaining to do in order to be fair – so get to it.

Dorothy • on Dec 15, 2014 8:41 pm

This old excuse for diversity (or lack thereof) is slowly-yet-happily fading away… as is your ilk. We will celebrate when we get some women on this list, and you can stand on the sideline and shake your fist before you die out. Singsongy voice: goood-bye!

therealthing • on Dec 15, 2014 4:15 pm

female writers have traditionally only accounted for about 25-30% of Nicholl submissions every year, so they are statistically underrepresented within the universe of all possible writers generally.

Ryan in L.A. • on Dec 15, 2014 6:10 pm

And if you log onto the Black List you’ll see that there simply aren’t many submissions from females. If you want to empower women writers then it’s probably best to encourage them to write and apply themselves. If anyone’s suggesting that the lack of female winners is due to an oppressive male-dominated hierarchy then you’re insulting men and women alike because I’d prefer to think women can fend for themselves.

Lucas Post • on Dec 16, 2014 9:04 am

Did you see where the same complaint was made about theater and the NY Times researched and found out most of the plays were picked by women? Yet the playwrights were overwhelmingly male. So, I don’t know what your post means? We must have so many of each person from each category?

Lou • on Dec 15, 2014 2:47 pm

If these are supposedly the best scripts not produced, I’m glad there are still classic movies being shown on TCM. There’s a reason these are not produced: I would not go to see any of these films, as they certainly don’t speak to me or my interests. Nor do I think many of the people I know would spend money to see any of these either.

I still think the Black List is important, but I also think it peaked a couple years ago. It was better when it was just a cool underground hobby, rather than an actual business. It never hurts to get on the list, but it clearly reflects so much politicking that the results have to be taken with a grain of salt.

The Truth • on Dec 15, 2014 3:39 pm

Catherine the Great was one of the most incredible reads I have had in some time. Glad the #1 script finally deserves to be at the top!

Bobs • on Dec 15, 2014 11:17 pm

So “The Truth” is who? Someone at Verve, Schiff or Atlas. Come on guys. Own it. The script is fine but no one’s going pay millions of dollars to make a stuffy period piece that’s exceptionally written. Unless someone wants to lose a bunch of dough.

Catherine Fan • on Dec 15, 2014 4:13 pm

Catherine the great deserved to win. It was truly the best un-produced script of 2014. Kristina Anderson is a true talent.

No high concept tentpoles (cause we all know reps suffer from a massive lack of cock nowadays). A bunch of microbudget “horror flicks” which even the tween crowd won’t watch (I think I spotted a ripoff of The Ring in there as well), more “inspired by true events” rubbish, More unfunny shitcoms, and a Russian drama at the top of the list that will never ever do ANY box office in the US. (Who here actually saw Stalingrad?)

Oh god oh god oh god, here it comes again. Gotta run!

Benny • on Dec 15, 2014 6:35 pm

The LA Times prints this story about “the mother in Chicago” trying to get her script read and produced that can’t move to LA and that’s what The Blacklist is supposed to be about, finding all this undiscovered talent. Yet, when you read the details, every screenwriter seems to already have an agent, an agency, a manager, a management company and/or a producer. I’m wondering how “undiscovered” many of these people are?

Dan • on Dec 16, 2014 8:46 am

They start off undiscovered obviously. Good writing will find good representation. I believe Kristina Anderson sent out query letters to reps. You need reps to expose the material, but everyone is undiscovered at some point.

Stuz • on Dec 15, 2014 11:13 pm

Agree the integrity of the list has gone down hill these past couple years, and this year is the peak of what looks like major politicking and campaigning by reps. I hadn’t heard of most of these and just pounded through about a dozen on the bottom of the list. Couldn’t get through most. It’s just shocking that anyone with taste who reads a lot of scripts would consider these their favorite scripts of the year. They are clearly the “bought” votes by reps.

The top 10 is more respectable but the Catherine The Great script is the weakest top choice in the list’s history. It’s good at best, and I’d expect the top Black List script to be GREAT (literally, in this case). I guess execs can only choose from what’s put out there but man is the spec/breaking voices market getting bad. These writers need to read more screenplays to learn the level that’s possible and then just really find their voice. And there are some scripts on the list this year that are only about a voice with no real craft or smart storytelling going on (DODGE, BEAUTY PAGEANT, THE WILD ONES).

I really used to look forward to this list of scripts and used to be able to depend on it. Really feels like now it’s more about execs giving votes away to their rep friends or people just aren’t reading much these days and picking from a list of scripts that went out, haven’t been made yet, and got a wide enough distribution to cover enough votes. What happen to being critical about the quality of the writing instead of rounding out the 10 votes!?

The Black List is like the indie movie committed to great storytelling that now wants to be a big commercial movie that makes a lot of movie. The spirit of the list is gone. Sad.

alfonsosays@yahoo.com • on Jan 2, 2015 3:54 pm

Exactly. Nailed it.

Mike • on Dec 16, 2014 12:32 am

So when are they going to change it to — A list of the “most liked screenwriters” and this is what they wrote this year.